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Wrestling Faces Two Top 10 Teams in Duals this Weekend

TEMPE, Ariz. - The No. 23 Arizona State University wrestling team will hit the road for the second weekend in a row and their first time for dual competition as the Sun Devils head to the state of Iowa for duals with a pair of Top 10 foes. The Sun Devils open the weekend on Saturday afternoon when they meet No. 5 Iowa (1-0) in Iowa City, Iowa, for a 1:30 p.m. dual. The weekend closes on Sunday at 2 p.m. when ASU takes on No. 6 Iowa State (1-0) in Ames, Iowa.

STITH ALL-STARAfter opening his senior campaign with a 2-0 record, No. 1 Brian Stith headed to the 41st NWCA All-Star Classic presented by the United States Marines Corps in Dallas on Monday evening. In a bout that featured No. 1 Stith and No. 2 Travis Paulson of Iowa State, neither man scored in the first period with Stith winning the flip and deferring. Paulson started the second period down and quickly escaped for the only scoring in the period. Stith, however, could not escape quickly and when he did to tie the match, Paulson had accumulated over one minute of riding time to secure the win, 2-1.

ALL-STAR HISTORYWith Stith's 2-1 setback in Dallas this week at the All-Star Classic, the Sun Devils are now 10-12-1 all-time as 23 different wrestlers have competed in the event.

NATIONALLY KNOWNAs a team, the Sun Devil enter the season ranked in the national Top 25 in two services, including No. 23 by NWCA/InterMat while holding the No. 25 position in the WIN Magazine poll. The Wrestling Mall did not have the young Sun Devils in their initial Top 20.

IN THE RANKINGSHeading into the season, three Sun Devils are ranked nationally. Senior Brian Stith (157) leads the way as he is ranked No. 1 in three of the four national services (No. 2 in the fourth) following his second-place showing at the NCAA Championships last year. Junior Patrick Pitsch (165) has been ranked among the Top 9 in all four polls, including a high of No. 7 by WIN Magazine. The final Sun Devil to be ranked is Greg Gifford (184), who enters the season at No. 15 in the polls.

QUICK RECAP: FULLERTON OPENArizona State sent 12 different wrestlers to the Fullerton Open over the weekend with a pair of Sun Devils placing in the Top 4 of the event. No. 9 Patrick Pitsch advanced to the finals of the 165 weight class where he dropped a tough 3-2 decision to No. 5 Trent Paulson of Iowa State in the finals. Pat Payne also placed in the event at 141 as he fell in the semifinals before winning his consolation semifinal bout. He defaulted out of the medal match, taking fourth.

TAKE ANOTHER CRACKTwo middle-weight bouts will be rematches this weekend when the Sun Devils head to Ames, Iowa, Sunday afternoon to meet the Cyclones. At 157, No. 1 Brian Stith will look to defeat No. 2 Travis Paulson after sustaining a 2-1 setback at the NWCA All-Star Classic while the 165 bout will also feature a Top 10 battle with No. 9 Patrick Pitsch looking to upset No. 5 Trent Paulson following the Cyclone's 3-2 win in the final of the Fullerton Open last weekend.

SCOUTING: NO. 5 IOWAThe Hawkeyes enter the weekend with a 1-0 record after defeating Northern Iowa, 18-15, on Tuesday night. Tom Brands is back at the helm of the program as Iowa looks to build on its sixth-place showing at the Big Ten Championships last year before placing fourth at the NCAA Championships.

IN THE SERIES: IOWAThe Hawkeyes hold a commanding 21-1-1 record in the series and have won 13 in a row. The last non-victory in the series came during the 1989-90 campaign when the Sun Devils picked up an 18-18 tie in Tempe. The last time the two squads met was one year ago as the visiting Hawkeyes scored a 26-13 victory in Tempe. Iowa won, 29-10, in the last dual held inside Carver Hawkeye Arena.

SCOUTING: NO. 6 IOWA STATEThe Cyclones enter the weekend with a 1-0 record as well after shutting out Buena Vista, 46-0, last week. Cael Sanderson is in his first year at the helm of the program after legendary coach Bobby Douglas, who guided ASU to its lone NCAA title, retired at the end of the 2005-06 season. The Cyclones enter the year following a fourth-place showing at the Big XII Championships last year and a tie for 13th at the NCAA Championships.

IN THE SERIES: IOWA STATEThe Cyclones hold a 20-5-0 record in the all-time series with the Sun Devils and have won the last two, including a 26-23 decision last year in Tempe. The Sun Devils' last win came during the 2003-04 season as the hosts upset No. 2 Iowa State, 22-20. The last time the two teams met in Ames was during the 2004-05 season when the host Cyclones took a 22-16 decision in the first weekend of the year.

OPENING THE SEASONWith their 38-12 defeat of Portland State, ASU improved to 31-14 in their first home dual of the season and moved to 32-13 all-time in the first dual of the season.

NEEDS 10 MOREAt the start of his senior season, Brian Stith needed just 12 victories this season to reach 100 for his career and become the 22nd Sun Devil to achieve that status. The NCAA runner-up in 2006, Stith is 2-0 so far this season and holds a career record of 90-29.

FIRST WINSSeven different wrestlers picked up their first wins in a Sun Devil singlet over the opening weekend, including two true freshmen, three redshirt freshmen and two transfers. Greg Gifford, who spent the past three seasons with Fresno State before the program was cut, went 2-0 on the weekend for his first wins with the program and also picked up the 70th win of his collegiate career. Another transfer, Chris Remsen, also secured the first wins of his career, going 2-0 on the weekend at 149 after dropping all four of his bouts at 174 last year. The NC State transfer is now 2-4 on his career. True freshmen Shawn Jones and Angel Alegre each won one bout at 133 for victories in their first collegiate bouts while redshirted athletes Robert Galvan (141), Jake Cranford (197) and Thor Moen (285) made the most of their first bouts following a season off from competition with victories in their debuts.

QUICK DEBUTAfter redshirting last year, Thor Moen got his first opportunity to compete for the Sun Devils Sunday, but did not spend much time on the mat as he pinned his foe in 3:56. Moen was one of two Sun Devils that recorded the first pin falls of their collegiate careers as Jason Trulson also won by fall, pinning his opponent in 1:40.

LOOKING FOR TWO MORE - PART IFollowing their 2-0 performance over the weekend, the Sun Devils improved to 448-244-12 all-time in dual competition and pushing the program closer to the 450-win plataeu. The last two milestone victories came under the leadership of current coach Thom Ortiz as he guided his squad to a 36-9 defeat of Portland State on December 5, 2002, for the 400th victory in program history before seeing his Sun Devils down CS Bakersfield, 20-19, on January 10, 2005, for the 425th victory. Both victories came in Tempe.

LOOKING FOR FOUR MORE - PART IIASU also needs just two more home victories to reach 200 in the history of the program. Arizona State won the 175th home dual on Jan. 5, 2003, when they defeated Embry-Riddle, 46-0, with the 150th victory coming on Jan. 9, 1997, in a 19-16 defeat of visiting Iowa State.

STREAKINGArizona State won its 17th Pac-10 dual in a row (went 8-0-0 over the previous two seasons) and extended its home conference unbeaten streak to 29 duals in a row (28-0-1) following its 38-12 defeat of Portland State on Nov. 12. The last time ASU did not win at home against a Pac-10 foe came during the 1998-99 season when ASU and CS Bakersfield fought to an 18-18 tie in Tempe. The last home loss in conference action came during the 1996-97 campaign when CSUB defeated ASU, 21-18. Overall in his coaching career, Thom Ortiz is 34-2-0 in duals with Pac-10 foes.

FACING THE BESTLooking at the preseason team rankings released by the NWCA and InterMat, the Sun Devils will face at least seven of the teams ranked in the Top 25, including five of the Top 9 teams in the nation. Those teams include No. 1 Minnesota, No. 4 Oklahoma, No. 5 Iowa, No. 6 Iowa State, No. 9 Cornell, No. 20 Cal Poly and No. 21 Lehigh. The Sun Devils will meet Oklahoma, Cal Poly and Lehigh at home with the others taking place on the road.

COME JOIN US: NATIONAL LETTERS OF INTENTHead Coach Thom Ortiz and the Sun Devil wrestling program have received National Letters of Intent from three high school seniors that have chosen to continue their education and wrestling careers at Arizona State next academic year. The trio of signees include Vincent Varela (Rio Rancho, N.M.), Kyle DeBerry (Tucson, Ariz.) and Jesse Robbins (Oviedo, Fla.) with all three ranked in the Top 150 according to InterMat's Recruiting Rankings with Varela ranked No. 18, DeBerry No. 45 and Robbins No. 101. Varela is a three-time state champ and ranked second in the nation at 135 pounds, DeBerry is a three-time state champion and ranked third in the nation at 160 while Robbins is a two-time Greco-Roman national champion and ranked fifth nationally at 171.

BACK-TO-BACK CHAMPIONSArizona State sent five of its wrestlers to the finals of the 2006 Pac-10 Championships with Patrick Pitsch (165), Ryan Bader (197) and Cain Velasquez (285) winning individual crowns to help the Sun Devils secure their second Pac-10 team title in a row and the 16th in program history following the tournament held at Stanford. The crown gave the Sun Devils their first back-to-back championships since winning the 1997 and 1998 titles. This year's team will look to secure its third crown in a row, marking the first time the program won more than two in a row since Bobby Douglas' squads won seven in a row between 1985-91.

STRONG NCAA SHOWINGFor the fourth time in the five years Thom Ortiz has been the head coach, the Sun Devils placed in the Top 15 at the NCAA Championships as his squad placed sixth one year ago in Oklahoma City. Four All-Americans helped the maroon and gold to their second-highest finish under Ortiz (fifth in 2003) with Brian Stith leading the charge as the national runner-up at 157. He was joined by Cain Velasquez (4th at HWT), C.B. Dollaway (5th at 184) and Ryan Bader (7th at 197) on the podium at the end of the meet to help ASU accumulate 61.5 points, just one-half of one point from a fifth-place tie with Cornell (62.0) and 8.5 points from fourth-place Iowa (70.0) and a team trophy.

RETURNING ALL-AMERICANBrian Stith is the lone returning All-American for the Sun Devils having secured the national honor each of the last two seasons. His first honor came in 2005 when he placed sixth in the nation before finishing as the runner-up last year after entering the tournament as the No. 10 seed. An All-America accolade for Stith this season would make him the 13th Sun Devil to earn three honors in a career and the first since Eric Larkin earned four All-America honors (1999, 2001, 2002 and 2003).

RETURNING PAC-10 CHAMPIONSA pair of middle-weights return this season with hopes of collecting their second individual Pac-10 crown. Brian Stith won his first crown in 2005 when he upset defending conference and NCAA champion Matt Gentry of Stanford in the 157 final before earning his first All-America honor. Stith placed second last year, falling to Ben Cherrington of Boise State. The second returning champion is Patrick Pitsch, who captured the 165 title last year as the tournament's three-seed. Pitsch went on to fall one victory short of All-America honors at the national championships and will look for his first national award this year.

BACK FOR MOREDepleted by graduation and redshirts this year, the Sun Devils return just four athletes to their starting line up in 2006-07 that competed in the Pac-10 Championships one year ago. Those individuals include Pat Payne (sixth at 149), Brian Stith (second at 157), Patrick Pitsch (first at 165) and Chris Remsen (did not place at 174). Jason Robbins, who won the true fourth-place match at 141 last year, will redshirt this season.

FORTUNATE TRANSFEROver the summer, the Fresno State University cut its wrestling program, unfortunately lowering the number of Division I programs in the west. Because of the cut, many of the wrestlers were forced to transfer to other programs to continue their careers with one of their top talents, Greg Gifford, choosing Arizona State. The senior from Las Vegas will start for ASU at 184 after winning the 2006 West Region Championship and qualifying for his second NCAA Championships berth.

HELLO! MY NAME IS ...The Sun Devil roster features 41 student-athletes this season with 17 entering their true-freshmen campaigns and three others transferring into the program. Of the newcomers this season, five have already worked their way into the probable starting line up, including freshmen Shawn Jones (125) and Angel Alegre (133), first-year sophomore Cameron Smith (149) and transfers Danny Galvan (sophomore at 141) and Greg Gifford (senior at 184).

ANOTHER NEW ADDITIONThe coaching staff welcomed a new volunteer coach to the fold this season as Travis Koppenhafer, the 2004 NCAA Division II Champion at 157 pounds for Adams State College, has joined the Sun Devils. A three-time All-American for ASC, Koppenhafer will work with the middle-weights, including Brian Stith and Patrick Pitsch, among others.

SCHOLAR BRAWLERSBegun last year, the wrestling program continues to strive to not only improve on the mat, but also push for greatness off the mat by participating in the Scholar Brawler program. Based on the football team's Scholar Baller, the program was designed and implemented by the Office of Student-Athlete Development to 'teach that performing well in school and earning a bachelor's degree are victories that last a lifetime.' To become a Scholar Brawler, a student-athlete must carry a 3.0 GPA or higher in any semester. Last year, 17 different Sun Devils were Brawlers, including returning wrestlers Robert Galvan, Kevin Gaughan, Pat Payne, Brandon Schad, Brian Stith, Jason Trulson, Alex Pavlenko and Chris Remsen.

REAL PRO WRESTLINGLast year, during the first season of Real Pro Wrestling, several former Sun Devils competed in the event with Eric Larkin placing second at 145 pounds for the Texas Shooters. Larkin was teammates with Danny Felix (132 pounds), Aaron Simpson (184 pounds) and Kellan Fluckiger (264 pounds) while another former Sun Devil, Markus Mollica, competed at 184 pounds for the California Claw. Heading into Season 2, the RPW is replaying its first season matches in select television markets with Simpson serving as the host. His duties include previewing the bouts and setting-up the next show in the season rewind.

HOME OF THE SUN DEVILSWells Fargo Arena serves as the home of Arizona State's home wrestling duals, as well as basketball (men and women), gymnastics and volleyball. Opened in the spring of 1974, the 14,198-seat arena has been the home venue of some of the Sun Devil greats with all 16 Pac-10 team titles and one of the two Western Athletic Conference crowns attained by ASU. Since its opening, 56 Sun Devils have captured 106 individual conference titles while 67 different athletes have earned a total of 98 All-America honors.

RICHES WRESTLING COMPLEXOn Saturday, January 7, the Sun Devils dedicated their new training facility in a joint celebration with the gymnastic team. The Riches Wrestling Complex, the John Spini Women's Gymnastics Training Center and the Cavanagh/Dickey Olympic Sports Plaza were dedicated and showcased as fans and over 200 supporters toured two of the premier training centers in the nation while both teams showcased their teams by holding practices. The facilities are located off Sixth Street behind the Kajikawa Football Practice Fields and beyond the outfield wall at Farrington Softball Stadium.

NEXT TIME OUTNext weekend, the Sun Devils will make their annual visit to Sin City as they are set to take part in the Cliff Keen/Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 1-2. The tournament will see each individual competing for a crown while team placements also will be tracked.